Hikari Tales: The Shield
by TouchofPixieDust
Summary: In THIS world she was not allowed to fight. She hated this world. She hated that she could not be the protector she was born to be here. Especially now.


Disclaimer: The characters of Inuyasha are owned by Rumiko Takahashi, but this story belongs to me. Hikari, Suichi, and Ulala all belong to me as well.

Hikari Tales:

The Shield

You must not hit.

You must not push.

You must NOT fight.

Hikari squeezed her eyes closed for a moment as she remembered her parents' words, spoken to her since she was a young child. She was part demon, stronger than her human classmates. Stronger, quite frankly, than most people who lived in this world. But she had to hide who and what she really was.

In THIS world she was not allowed to fight. In THIS world she could not run around in bare feet everywhere she went. In THIS world she must hide her ears.

Hikari hated this world.

She hated that she could not be the protector she was born to be here. More than anything she felt trapped. Especially now.

With barely contained fury, Hikari opened her stormy eyes.

Bullies were picking on a boy from her class. Again. His name was Suichi. He was smaller than most of the other boys, and had a very gentle spirit. He would never hurt a soul.

The bullies called him names. They often made him cry. Hikari would demand that they stop, but they knew she wouldn't back up her words. They knew she would duck her head and grit her teeth, and simply growl. They knew she would not fight.

But today...

Today they HIT Suichi.

Hikari dropped her books and ran to her fallen friend. She skidded to a stop in front of him and held out her arms, blocking him with her body.

"Stop!"

Bully 1, Jin, laughed at Suichi as he wiped his bloody nose on his sleeve. "You hiding behind a GIRL now?"

No. Not Jin. He didn't deserve a name. None of them did. He was just a Bully.

Bully 2 laughed as well. "Little baby hides behind little girl!"

Bully 3. "You should be ashamed!" He spit at Suichi. Hikari didn't blink as the spittle hit her cheek. "You're no man. You're a ... you're a girl!"

"Little girl little girl, Suichi is a little girl!" they chanted.

"Get out of the way, freak, time to teach the 'little girl' a lesson."

Freak.

She was used to that nickname. Most kids didn't have sharp canines or dog ears, so she knew she was different. Of course, THEY didn't know about the teeth and ears, all they saw was her silver hair. Her daddy's hair.

She lifted her chin in defiance.

"You will not touch him."

"Hikari... you might want to run..."

Hikari didn't take her eyes off the bullies, but she replied calmly to her friend. "No. I'm good. But don't worry, they won't touch you again."

Bully 1 came within inches of her face and sneered at her. His breath smelled like bologna and some foul plastic-y cheese. Oh, and evil. He reeked of evil. "You don't move and we'll just have to teach you a lesson, too, girly."

"Um... Jin... she's a... a girl..." Bully 2 was nervous as he looked around the playground.

"Shut up, Gonji.

"But..."

"NO ONE gets in our way! Looks like we have to teach BOTH these girls a lesson."

Hikari knew a punch was coming by Bully 3's body language. She placed herself squarely in front of Suichi. They wouldn't lay a hand on him.

And she would not break her promise to her parents not to hit.

She may not be able to use her fists or a sword to protect in this world... but she could be a shield.

So she didn't dodge the punch.

Or the next.

She let them continue to hit and kick her. Suichi cried out for her, but she made sure he was always behind her. Always safe.

Other kids started to circle them. Watching. The angry part of Hikari's brain called them cowards. There were dozens of them and only three bullies. She shook away the anger, and remembered that full humans bruise and break much more easily than she.

The crowd gave the bullies another burst of courage, so they doubled their attack.

Hikari let them.

She would NOT fight.

She would be a shield.

ooOOooOOooOOooOOoo

"So," Kagome said nervously to her mate, "Did they say what they wanted to talk to us about?"

Inuyasha shrugged. "Something about something that happened at recess. He babbled a lot. I don't like that guy."

"You have a very short list of people you like."

"Keh."

Kagome and Inuyasha walked up to the elementary school. Kagome stopped in front of the doors and chewed on her lip a moment.

"Did they say they needed to see us both?"

"Nah." Inuyasha leaned against the building. "I'll wait for you here. It smells in there."

Kagome kissed her mate then walked inside and to the principal's office. Outside of the office sat a disheveled Hikari with a nervous looking teacher. The teacher didn't give her time to talk to her daughter before ushering them inside.

When they walked in, three young boys started shouting at her as they darted behind chairs and grown-ups.

"DEMON!"

"MONSTER!"

"MUTANT!"

"ANGEL!"

The last one was from a smaller boy who seemed to have eyes that grew two sizes and sparkled as soon as he saw her daughter. Kagome pulled Hikari close, glad Inuyasha was outside. Though his self-control had improved greatly over the years, hearing someone insult his little girl might just be the thing to push him over the edge into homicide. Even if they were kids. Kidicide?

Wait... Demon? Monster? Mutant? Had she been found out?

"QUIET!" The principal shouted, practically exploding out of his collar. No one should turn that shade of red. It just wasn't right. "YOU!" he pointed to a young girl that Kagome had not even noticed was in the room. "Tell me what happened."

"That MONSTER broke my baby's hand!" a woman shouted as she pointed at Hikari.

Kagome was livid. "How DARE you!" Hikari tugged on her skirt and looked up at her and gave a tiny shrug. Okay... so maybe Hikari had broken his hand... but that wasn't the point.

The principal held up one finger to silence the woman, then pointed at the girl again.

"I... I saw the whole thing. I.. I was playing... with Suichi..."

"Quicker, girl. Less mumbling."

Kagome began to see why Inuyasha hated the principal.

They were yanking Hikari out of this school. NO ONE called her baby a monster!

"Yes, sir. Those three boys started making fun of Suichi because he was playing with me. We weren't playing DOLLS," she glared at the three boys, "They are ACTION FIGURES." Then the girl took a breath and continued. "They made fun of him and then started pushing him. Suichi didn't push back because pushing is against the rules."

Kagome began to like the little girl as she scolded the bullies. That took some guts.

"Then Jin hit him in the stomach and knocked him down. Hikari stood in front of Suichi to protect him. THOSE three started hitting her and kicking her when she wouldn't let them get to Suichi."

They... HIT her little girl?!

THEY HIT HIKARI? Kagome started checking her daughter to make sure she was not injured. Hikari sighed and let herself be inspected.

"LIES!"

The principal held up his finger for silence once more.

"Ulala Kisaragi does not lie! A bunch of kids crowded around to watch, so you can ask any of them! But Hikari didn't hit back. Not once! Because hitting is against the rules! But they hit her. A lot. Then THAT one started complaining about his hand hurting. And THAT one started hopping on one foot saying ow ow ow. And THAT one just kept hitting. THEN!"

The girl paused for dramatic effect. Kagome was torn between pride and disgust. If Inuyasha knew what had happened, they would never step foot in this time period again. And at this moment, she was inclined to agree. They could always visit her family then go back to the past.

"THEN Hikari dusted off her hands! THEN SMILED!" Ulala started squealing a bit as she jumped up and down.

"Tell them what she said!" encouraged Suichi.

"She said 'Keh'!"

"It was the coolest thing I ever heard!"

"Then," the girl continued, "THOSE three took off running to the nurse then we all got called to the principal's office." Then Ulala seemed to remember something and pulled out her phone. "Oh! I got it all on video!"

Hikari was free to go.

"Technically," Hikari said as they approached the doors, "I said 'Keh, that all you got', but she was close."

Inuyasha seemed to be struggling to keep from grinning as they walked out the doors.

The family stopped in front of giant crater with splintered cement. Inuyasha beams in pride and Kagome arches an eyebrow as she turned to her daughter.

"Ulala may have skipped a part," Hikari started to explain... then thought better of it.

Perhaps being a shield was just as important as being a sword.

There is more than one way to protect after all.

ooOOooOOooOOooOOoo

Author's Notes:

My house and town flooded last month… the dog was drinking from the living room floor. Clean up has been taking everything out of me, sorry I haven't written much lately. If it's not broken bones its devastating natural disasters. Can't a fanfic writer catch a break?

Thanks for reading!


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